The Stage
A large part of our life was spent in an educational institution that was part of a bigger organisation founded by a visionary and had its fingers in many pies from construction and real estate to philanthropy and naturopathy. Established the year I was born, it has spread it wings and reputation to be one of the best in the state.
Our erstwhile college building that started the hotel management program in 1993,was unique in many respects. For one, it was located over many buildings. If the ground floor which housed the offices was the main building, the class rooms were located in the hospital block over the cardiac care unit. The main corridor on the second floor was two storeys high over a passageway, the kitchens were over the dental block and later some classrooms were added which were part of the management block. The tiles were mismatched; the walls were covered with a pale floral wall paper and openings on the roof over the lockers ensured light and rain during different times. The student toilet block in a different building located on either side of an auditorium, this was accessed by a covered bridge like passage.
It was in this auditorium that the stage was located. Unlike other stages, this was not made of concrete or made out of low tables joined together. This was a bamboo structure, covered with planks which would creak and move and to reduce the excessive noise created by the dancers or excitable acts, red coir carpets was laid over them. These carpets had as much dust as it had stories to tell. The curtain was initially deep blue before it changed to a red one and it was hung on rings and operated by a pulley system manually by two volunteer students during functions, who would be so engrossed in the proceedings that they would more often than not forget to open or close on cue and in the ensuing melee, pull so hard that they used to entangle to the merriment of everyone. The podium and the back wall were made out of particle board that would change its shape over the years depending on the amount of moisture it absorbed from the rain spatter through the broken glass windows or the spilled contents of a water bottle.
The floor was made of white tiles and the walls were mostly a shade of brown interspersed with other colours depending on which was available during repairs. The puddle of water at the end of the auditorium used to be a permanent feature due to the slope and the chairs were an eclectic mix of metal chairs with foam cushion in the front followed by plastic chairs of red, grey and odd white with tiny dots on them. On function days, the dignitaries would be seated on chairs that would be brought in from the conference hall or the office.
The audio system was always inadequate and hence it would always be hired for functions. On one of the function we got an external decorator who turned the place into a spectacle with multi-coloured lights and plastic flowers which had to be toned down to such a level that the poor guy left disheartened.
The most redeeming feature of this auditorium was its location over the hospital ICU and invariably during the 15 odd years that we held events, we would be visited by the security of the hospital asking us to tone down the noise levels of 300 hot blooded youths high on adrenaline and god knows what. A third or fourth visit or a threat of a disturbed patient would end the program on a whimper and we would retreat cussing the location and our luck.
But a lot of memories were created here and I hope to recount a few of them.
116 of 366
